In this series we’ll take a fresh look at resources and how they are used. We’ll go beyond natural resources like air and water to look at how efficiency in raw materials can boost the bottom line and help the environment. We’ll also examine the circular economy and design for reuse — with an eye toward honoring those resources we do have.

While changes at home can’t solve the many environmental crises we face today, they can sure help. Through this series, we’ll explore how initiatives like curbside compost pick-up, rebates on compost bins, and efficient appliances can help families reduce their impact without breaking the bank.

Despite decades -- centuries even -- of global efforts, slavery can still be found not just on the high seas, but around the world and throughout various supply chains. Through this series on forced labor, sponsored by C&A Foundation, we’ll explore many different types of bonded and forced labor and highlight industries where this practice is alive and well today.

In this series we examine how companies should respond to national controversy like police violence and the BLM movement to best support employees and how can companies work to improve equality by increasing diversity in their ranks directly.

Compost is often considered a panacea for the United States’ tremendous food waste problem. Indeed, composting is a much better option than putting spoiled food in a garbage can destined for a landfill.

Who doesn’t like pizza? Even the owner of ihatepizza.com can’t work up ire about his favorite least favorite food. I’m a fan, which is one reason Naked Pizza was among the most captivating components of Val Casey’s keynote at SXSW. Casey discussed the importance of meeting people where they are, when it comes to sustainability, and she used Naked Pizza an example of a business that embodies that motive.

Naked Pizza is a start-up out of New Orleans that was founded by a former anthropologist and a real estate developer who wanted to do the impossible and make pizza a health food. This wasn’t just about waistlines- the partners realized that making health food delicious and familiar is one of the keys to solving the obesity crisis. Funded by dotcom winner Mark Cuban and The Kraft Group, team Naked Pizza cites a simple equation as its key to success:

Brilliant. Naked Pizza decided that rather than trying to focus on changing consumer behavior, they’d change the formation of the pizza itself with probiotics, fiber and skim milk cheese. And, it’s actually not so bad for you, according to the nutrition facts they offer. By meeting customers where they are, Naked Pizza can get a word in edgewise and start educating its customers about healthy food and food politics *after* they’ve become fans. They call themselves the Trojan horse of pizza.

Beyond just being health food purveyors in disguise, Naked Pizza is the Trojan horse of the franchise business model. The startup stumbled on a business model that is highly scalable due to its limited menu, delivery model, price point and store size. That’s all good in the traditional franchise sense, but more importantly, Naked Pizza is transparent, a master of social media, and has a social mission. It will impart these values to franchisees, sneaking in a new way of doing business along with god-honest-good-for-you pizza. Naked Pizza shows that fast food doesn’t have to be soul-less and terrible. Just take a look at this excerpt from the company prospectus:

Marry a deep mission, social responsibility, a no-bullshit approach to sustainability with conscious business and fair, unapologetic profitability.Change the way people eat, rock a food industry that abandoned its primary responsibility decades ago, including an opportunistic, often predatory and health-destroying fast-food industry. Reinvent franchising while you’re at it. Oh hell, why not just change the whole business paradigm? A paralyzing global recession seems like as good a time as any to reset the whole damn thing so that the most talented people can contribute to wealth and job creation in ways that benefit society rather than diminish it.

These guys aren’t just turning pizza on its head, they are turning business on its head too.

Jen Boynton has been the editor in chief of TriplePundit for 8 years. With over 6 million annual readers, TriplePundit is the leading publication on sustainable business and the Triple Bottom Line. Prior to TriplePundit, Jen received an MBA in Sustainable Management from the Presidio Graduate School and a degree in Sociology from Pitzer College. She spent a few years in the non-profit policy sector as well, but we won't talk about that. In her work with TriplePundit she's helped clients from SAP to PwC with their sustainability communications messaging. When she's not at work, she volunteers as a CASA -- court appointed special advocate for children in the foster care system. She enjoys losing fights with her toddler overlord and eating toast scraps. She lives with her family in sunny San Diego.

The problem is that the pizza just doesn't taste great. It's not bad, but it's not great. It's about average-tasting for New Orleans pizza (which means below average for real pizza towns). It doesn't taste better than pizza from the big chains, really, so while there may be initial excitement when they open in other areas of the country, I just don't see Naked Pizza making a big splash in the long-term. Then again, if people do really start putting more weight on the healthiness of food then on its taste, Naked Pizza might do very well. I'll believe it when I see it.

This organization is a scam that has succeeded in scamming some rich people. The pizza is so-so. The “founder” is a filthy mouthed clown who pretends to be a business person. America is made of better stuff. This company is flotsam that appeared post-Katrina. Eat smart but AVOID these punks.

I agree with this assessment of Naked Pizza. My wife and I went to the new franchise that opened in our area, Cincinnati, put in our order, paid and then waited forty minutes for nothing. They lost our order and tried to make up for it by giving us business cards with the owner’s name on it and “Free L.L. Pizza” written on them. I have never seen such a poorly run pizza place. We ended up cancelling our order and asking for a refund–we also returned the business cards since we have no intention of wasting our time with such a shoddy pizza joint. We were not the only ones that never got their pizzas.

It has the same amount of calories as in a domino’s thin crust, or pizza hut thin crust pizza. And the vegan cheese is mostly made of fats and has just as many calories as mozzarella It’s a better alternative to white flour pizzas, but it’s still fattening as hell. I’d eat it again, but without any cheese at all. I DID appreciate not being poisoned with preservatives and shit.